Japan’s United States–imposed postwar constitution renounced the use of offensive military force, but, Sheila Smith shows, a nuclear North Korea and an increasingly assertive China have the Japanese rethinking that commitment—and their reliance on U.S. security.

For the first time in recorded history, viruses, bacteria, and other infectious diseases are not the leading cause of death or disability in any region of the world. People are living longer. And yet, the news is not all good. Recent reductions in infectious disease have not been accompanied by the same improvements in income, job opportunities, and governance. There have also been unintended consequences. In this book, Thomas Bollyky explores the paradox in our fight against infectious disease: the world is getting healthier in ways that should make us worry.

A spellbinding narrative of the high-stakes mission that changed the course of America, China, diplomacy and global politics—and a rich portrait of the towering, complex figure who carried it out: George Marshall.